BOCODOL boss calls for free internet services

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Saturday May 11, 2013 00:00

 

Dr Tau said this is essential especially now that Botswana is in the process of being linked to the rest of the global village through both the East African Submarine and West African Cable systems. Speaking at the graduation ceremony for the second batch of professionals, who benefited from the Botswana-India Pan African e-Network Project in Gaborone Thursday, Tau said e-learning is met with challenges where the bandwidth is insufficient, as problems of reaching the distance learner can only be exacerbated.  This issue and that of related costs continue to interfere with the college's intentions. 'It is on my wish-list and that of our nation that educational institutions should be the source of imagination, invention, creativity and national prosperity,' Tau said.

He added that these desires could be meaningfully realised if increased investment was made towards the improvement of Internet connectivity to educational institutions.  He argued that with such facilities, local learners would be able to easily interact with the finest innovators in the globe, and in the process, claim their fair share of the opportunities that are ushered by the global knowledge economy. In partnership with India's Amity University, 72 certificates were awarded comprising Bachelor of Finance and Investment Analysis, Master of Finance and Control, Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Information Technology. The graduates benefited from the Pan African-e Network Project launched in 2010 to support 12 African countries, including Botswana, in areas of e-governance, e-commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and meteorological and other services.The objective of the Pan-African e-Network project is to assist Africa in capacity building by way of imparting quality education to 10,000 students over a five-year period in various disciplines from some of the best Indian universities or educational institutions. Besides, this would provide Tele-medicine services by way of on-line medical consultation to the medical practitioners at the Patient End Location in Africa by Indian medical specialists in various disciplines/specialties selected by the African Union (AU) for its member states.

Tau applauded the Indian government for this invaluable project. He said sometimes those tasked with implementation of projects remain oblivious of what goes on behind the scenes, adding that the tangible product that becomes visible to the public is often contrived and made possible through diplomatic dialoguing. 'For a fact, tele-education would remain a pipedream, and at most, of rhetorical significance only, in the absence of effort and a sense of direction given to the nation by the Ministry of Transport and Communication,' he said.